Apple Watch Series 3 and Series 5 sales help sink Samsung in the growing North America wearables market

It seems there is no slowing down for the popularity of Apple Watch wearables. A report from market analyst Canalys has declared the Cupertino-based company the champion of this particular sector in North America for the second quarter of this year. The Q2 2020 results for Apple were 3.2 million units shipped with a regional share of 37.6%. While the latter figure slipped a little from Q2 2019’s result of 37.9%, the amount of units shipped was up from 2.9 million.

While great deals on the Apple Watch Series 3 have helped sales, with the smartwatch enjoying 30% year-on-year growth according to Canalys, it is actually the newer Apple Watch Series 5 that is the device to beat at the moment. The fifth-generation Apple smartwatch was apparently the best-selling wearable in North America for the quarter, which is not surprising when you factor in the decent Apple S5 SoC and handy features such as global emergency calling and the presence of a magnetometer.

Garmin and Verizon Wireless have also increased shipments, the latter by +478% thanks to the GizmoWatch range and Verizon Care Smartwatch. Fitbit’s shipments are down, but the company still retains a solid position as the number two wearables firm in the North American market. However, Samsung has plummeted by 48% over the year in terms of units shipped (0.4 million vs. 0.8 million) and regional share has more than halved. With the Apple Watch 6 launching this week, Apple might soon be outshipping its main rivals by even more than the current 7:1 ratio.